Rest
by White Crescent
Summary: One-shot. Riou meets with an old 'friend' after several hundred years and finds the rest he's been yearning for, finally.


Rest

Riou set the pot down on the stove and turned his head, fixing his gaze on the wooden door across the house. Unblinking, the young man strained his ears and listened to his surroundings very, very carefully. Very clearly, with almost inhuman precision, he could hear the leaves ruffling in their branches outside, the rush of water in the nearby brook and finally the unmistakable sound of someone breathing ever so quietly.

He blinked and opened his mouth. 'The door is open,' Riou told his visitor, 'Please don't stand in front of my door like that, it's very threatening.'

The knob turned and the door opened with a slight creak, reminding the former leader of the fact that he'd been delaying on oiling that hinge for _days._ Procrastination was an extremely hard habit to break, especially when you know you _literally_ have forever. 

'I was expecting a bit more from you, you know,' his visitor declared as he entered. He took a few steps forward before looking around, eyeing each and every part of the former leader's house with scrutiny. 

Riou shook his head, 'Really? And what do you mean by that?'

'Both the door and your…welcome,' his visitor replied before eyeing the chair beside him. 'Mind if I sat?'

Riou arched an eyebrow, 'Please.' 

'Thank you.'

'I'll prepare us some tea.' Riou muttered before heading for the cabinets. His visitor nodded before quietly removing his hat and setting it on his lap. 

'I must say though, this little home of yours…. it's pretty well done. Why it's in the middle of nowhere is beyond me though, honestly. You never did strike me as the loner.'

The sound of porcelain chinking and water being poured filled the visitors ears until the former leader spoke. It was tinged with slight sarcasm, 'You never did strike me as the type to start conversations like that, honestly.'

'Ah….'

'Ah…' Riou mimicked his visitor, nodding slowly as he placed two tea-laden cups on a small tray. 'How long has it been? Amazing how time changes you…._wears_ you, in my case.'

'Ah….,' was all his visitor could say as Riou handed a cup to him. '.. two-hundred years, give or take, I presume.'

Riou smiled, 'Two-hundred and fifty-three years, actually.' He sat himself on chair adjacent to his visitor's. 

'That long…'

'Yes.'

His visitor took a sip from his cup and commented on it with a sly grin, 'Not bad. Not bad at all…' 

'I learned it from my sister,' Riou explained, grinning. 

'Ah… yes….' 

'Where were we?'

'…..two-hundred and fifty-three years, remember? It stops here.' 

Riou set his cup down and closed his eyes slightly. A small smile formed on his lips, 'It's all over, isn't it? You found him and now me…'

His visitor grinned before tucking a strand of misplaced blond hair behind his ears. His red eyes flashed. 'You took forever to find.' 

Riou laughed, 'It was a challenge, now, wasn't it?' The former leader turned then, looking around his room before adding quietly, 'I hope you didn't have to 'trouble' a lot of people.'

His visitor grinned wider, 'I learned, you know. A hundred years teaches you, you can't just barge into every single household you see and _still_ hope to get a decent answer forever.' 

'Hmn..' Riou was smiling.

His visitor took a sip from his tea again. 'Zexen?'

'No, it's from the State, actually… technically. Traditional Highland Jasmine Tea.'

'Bluff. You can't even remember its real name.'

'That's how niisan called it.'

'Ahh…… speaking of your sister, how is she? Her family, anyway.'

'Prospering. I never really visit anymore. Too many faces I don't know, and don't really care about. She's gone, long gone actually, and her descendants are the least of my problems – unless, that is, you decide to torment them in some way.'

'Heh. I won't be bothering them after I'm done.' 

Riou's face grew serious and he rose from his seat. 'Yes, after you're done.' 

'Yuber,' the former leader muttered, his eyes narrowing. Yuber set his own cup down and stared the former leader in the eye. The grin disappeared from his face and his red eyes darkened.

They watched each other in complete silence, eyes unblinking. The day the two of them had both foreseen several hundred years ago had come and it was all going to end in a matter of hours, if not minutes. 

Finally, Riou blinked and the mirth in his eyes and smile returned to his face. 'Let me wash these cups first, the last thing I need are cockroaches running rampant in _my_ kitchen.'

'Ahh… yes.'

*

Riou shifted his weight on his feet and muttered something about his _tonfas_ not being as they used to be years before. 'I'm afraid my skills have rusted a bit, though,' he told Yuber conversationally as he tightened his grip on his _tonfas_.

'That's all right, I haven't had my fair share of bloodshed in years, myself. I'm afraid my skills have rusted a bit too.' Yuber twirled his blades and watched with narrowed eyes as the brunette walked to the center of the clearing.

'It's all fair then, I guess.'

'Yes.' The blonde dark knight settled into a battle stance, ready for the kill. 

'I only have one request, Yuber,' Riou muttered as he settled into his own battle stance. 'I wish to be able to ask you something afterwards, alright?'

Yuber blinked, 'Alright.'

'Thank you. We can begin now.'

And with that, Yuber launched himself towards Riou. It would be quick, he knew. He had planned this many times before, calculated how the True Rune bearer would start out, would block, would fight. He had studied his opponent for two hundred years. Day and night, he thought of nothing but how to end the life of the bearer of the _Rune of Beginning _swiftly.

Swiftly.

Riou blocked a blow from his right blade with his left tonfa effectively and was definitely ready for a blow from his left blade when he put his plan into motion. Yuber slid down and took Riou by surprise when he slashed at the brunette's stomach with his left blade. 

Blood was spilled and for the first time in many, many years, Yuber's face was once again wet with blood. Riou let out a cry as he fell into the blonde's arms and he clutched at the gash on his stomach by instinct.

'That….was good,' the former leader managed to say as blood flowed freely from his mouth.

Yuber closed his eyes and smiled, 'Of course… that plan took two years to make, however simple it looked like.' 

Riou laughed, 'It's.. the.. end for you!' 

'And for you.' 

'….Right..'

'What was it that you wanted to ask, by the way?'

There was a pause as Riou closed his eyes, 'I…wanted to.. ask you.. two things actually…First, please.. oil.. that… door,'

Yuber grinned.

'…and…what.. will.. you.. do...after.. this? It.. does.. all...end.. here.'

Yuber did not reply and instead he took Riou's right hand into his own. 'I honestly don't know,' he told the boy as the hand he held in his began to glow and grow warmer, 'I honestly don't know…'

Riou smiled, opening his eyes, '…Send my best… regards.. to Leknaat.' 

Yuber smiled. He watched in silence as the boy's body began to glow and fade until there was nothing left. Were it not for the battered _tonfas_, splashed with specks of blood, the reddened earth, and the blood still fresh on Yuber's face, it would have seemed as if the bearer of the Rune of Beginning did not exist at all.

Two Runes, the Bright Shield Rune and the Black Sword Rune, appeared in front of him, lingering in the air for a few seconds, before fading themselves into nothingness. 

With a smirk, he sheathed his blades and brought a hand to his bloodied face. The blood was still warm, still so fresh. It was all beginning again. 

__

Again.

'I lied,' he told no one in particular before turning around and heading towards the small cottage.

(**Disclaimer:** Once again, Konami owns Suikoden. 

A/N: I killed Riou! Fortunately, it's random. I feel bad already… oh well. I'm off!)


End file.
